Science —

By some measures, older really is wiser

Most adages aren’t backed up by scientific research. However, a new study in PNAS this week lends support to the saying "With age comes wisdom." Even though other cognitive processes degenerate during one's golden years, the authors found that old age is associated with significant gains in social conflict reasoning.

In accordance with other psychological studies, the researchers defined "wisdom" as knowledge that is useful for navigating social challenges and dealing with life problems. They assessed six commonly cited dimensions of wisdom, including perspective-shifting, recognition of uncertainty, and willingness to search for a compromise.

The subjects, who varied from 25 to 90 years old, first took several cognitive tests to assess various measures of their intelligence. They then read newspaper stories about either intergroup conflicts (such as the ethnic clash between the Issa and the Afari in Djibouti), or "Dear Abby" letters about interpersonal conflicts (such as a husband and wife's marital problems). Each participant was interviewed about what they had read, and their answers were rated on each dimension of wisdom by coders who were blinded to their age.

For each type of conflict, elderly participants outscored both young and middle-aged participants in nearly every wisdom dimension. The greatest gains in wisdom were between middle age and old age, even though fluid intelligence, or the ability to reason abstractly, tends to drop during that period. The researchers found that these positive effects of age on wisdom are significant across all social classes, education levels, and IQs.